Garden Island Publishing Co., Ltd.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 25, 1965

154 N.L.R.B. 697 (N.L.R.B. 1965)

GARDEN ISLAND PUBLISHING CO., LTD. 697
Garden Island Publishing Co., Ltd., Petitioner and Honolulu
Typographical Union No. 37, AFL-CIO 1
Garden Island Publishing Co., Ltd. and Honolulu Typographical
Union No. 37, AFL-CIO, Petitioner
Garden Island Publishing Co., Ltd. and Hawaii Newspaper Guild
Local 117, American Newspaper Guild , AFL-CIO, CLC, Peti-
tioner. Cases Nos. 87 RM-60, 37-RC-1162, and 37-EC-1164.
August 25,1965
DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, a hearing was held before Hearing
Officer Dennis R. MacCarthy. The Hearing Officer's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed. All parties filed briefs.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the National
Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman McCulloch and Mem-
bers Fanning and Jenkins].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act and it will effectuate the purposes of the Act to assert juris-
diction herein.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the represen-
tation of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Sections 9(c) (1) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The Employer operates a commercial printing establishment and
publishes a biweekly newspaper in Lihue, Island of Kauai, Hawaii.
The operation is divided into a mechanical division consisting of
'employees with the usual composing room, lithographic, and letter-
press skills and a nonmechanical division consisting of the editorial,
business, circulation, and advertising departments.
The Honolulu Typographical Union No. 37,2 Petitioner in Case
No. 37-RC-1162, seeks to represent a unit consisting of all of the
Employer's full-time mechanical department employees? The Em-
Amended at the hearing
Hereinafter referred to as Local 87.
$ The Employer in response to an April 7, 1965, request to bargain by Local 37, filed
a petition in Case No . 37-RM-60. Its petition seeks an election in a unit consisting of
all the mechanical departments and the building maintenance employees . However, the
Board has held that in the newspaper industry "building maintenance" employees are
appropriately within a nonmechanical rather than a mechanical unit. See, e.g., Dow
154 NLRB No. 60.
698 DECISIONS OF, NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ployer contends that the unit should also include the regular part-
time mechanical employees and certain other job classifications which
it contends are mechanical but which Local 37 claims are non-
mechanical in nature.
The Hawaii Newspaper Guild Local 117, American Newspaper
Guild, AFL-CIO, CLC,4 Petitioner in Case No. 37-RC-1164, seeks
to represent a unit consisting of all nonmechanical employees. The
Employer is in substantial agreement with the composition of this
unit, but contends that certain job classifications requested by Peti-
tioner should be included in the mechanical unit and that certain
other job classifications have been inappropriately excluded.
In the newspaper industry the optimum unit of nonmechanical
employees is one which includes all such employees.5 Accordingly,
we find that the unit petitioned for by the Guild is appropriate.
In the mechanical department of a newspaper, the Board usually
finds appropriate separate units of the various crafts. On the other
hand, where a union seeks to represent the traditional mechanical
crafts in a single unit and where there is no objection to the joinder
of these crafts either by the employer or another union claiming to
represent any mechanical craft on a separate basis, the Board will
find the combined unit appropriates In the absence of any such
objection in the present case, we find that the combined unit of
mechanical department employees, petitioned for by Local 37, is
appropriate.
There remains for consideration the placement of certain disputed
classifications.
a. The bookkeeper and billing clerks
The Employer would include these employees in the Guild unit,
whereas the Guild would exclude them as office clericals. All work
under the supervision of the office manager, Gokan. Herbert
Hamura keeps the books for both the newspaper and commercial
printing business. Edith Tanimoto is primarily responsible for the
advertising accounts receivable. Shimoi Mukai is responsible for the
commercial printing accounts receivable, giving printing costs esti-
mates, and coordinating the commercial printing work. It appears
Jones & Company, Inc., 142 NLRB 421, 429 (building services employees) ; Lowell Sun
Publishing Company, 132 NLRB 1168, 1172. Moreover , no union has petitioned to repre-
sent such a unit. We shall therefore dismiss the Employer 's petition
4 Hereinafter referred to as the Guild.
5 Dow Jones & Company, Inc., supra; Lowell Sun Publishing Company, supra; The
Peoria Journal Star, Inc., 117 NLRB 708; The Salt Lake Trabune Publishing Company
and Telegram Publishing Company, 92 NLRB 1411.
6 Worzella Publishing Company, 121 NLRB 78.
GARDEN ISLAND PUBLISHING Co., LTD. 699
that these employees perform the usual tasks of business department
employees in the newspaper industry, and we therefore shall include
them in the unit of nonmechanical employees sought by the Guild?
b. The part-time employees
Local 37 would exclude all part-time mechanical department em-
ployees from its unit on the grounds that they do not share the same
interests as the full-time employees and that the extent of its orga-
nization is the full-time group. The Employer would include them
in the mechanical department unit. The part-time employees per-
form the same tasks as the full-time employees whom Local 37 would
include. They have regularly assigned working days, work a sub-
stantial number of hours each month, and perform functions which
are an integral part of the production process. The fact that, unlike
full-time employees, regular part-time employees receive neither a
guaranteed salary nor fringe benefits does not substantially detract
from their interest in the unit. Further, under Section 9(a) (5) of
the Act, the extent of organization may not be a controlling factor
in determining the appropriateness of a unit. We find that the
employees in question are regular part-time employees of the
mechanical department, and we shall therefore include them in the
unit petitioned for by Local 37.8
c. Layout and pasteup employees
Both the Guild and Local 37 take the position that these employees
should be included in the Guild's nonmechanical unit while the
Employer contends that they should be included in the mechanical
department unit. The employees in question, Evelyn Eto and Mieko
Takamiyo, perform layout and pasteup work. They carry out their
duties as follows: They receive a rough copy of an advertisement
from the advertising salesmen. They then prepare the layout from
which the composing room employees make a reproduction proof.
The proof is then returned to the employees in question and they
perform the pasteup operation to prepare it for photoengraving.
They are supervised in both operations by John Uyeno, a supervisor
in the mechanical department, and the majority of their contact is
with composing room and other mechanical department employees.
7 Cf The Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Company, etc., supra.
8 The Vindicator Printing Company, 146 NLRB 871, 877; Berea Publishing Company,
140 NLRB 516, 518. The parties agree that mailroom employees should be included in
the mechanical department unit. Accordingly, we likewise include in the mechanical unit
Salud and Villanueva, who are employed on a regular part-time basis in the mailroom,
and regular part-time employees Domingsel, Valvieja, and Gokan, who divide their time
between the mailroom and other mechanical department work.
700 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Inasmuch as the pasteup operation is a mechanical function,' and,
further because these employees work primarily in the mechanical
department under mechanical department supervision, we will in-
clude them in the mechanical unit.lo
d. Janitress
Both Local 37 and the Guild would include the janitress, Paz
Valdez, in the Guild unit; the Employer would include her in the
mechanical department unit because she also does mailroom work.
Valdez works six nights a week as a janitress and on days when the
paper is printed she is also assigned to the mailroom. Inasmuch as
her principal duties are janitorial, and because she spends an insub-
stantial period of time in the mailroom, we shall include her in the
nonmechanical unit.11
e. Truckdriver
The truckdriver, Severino Valdez, is primarily engaged in the out-
side circulation work of delivering newspapers to various distribution
points on the island.12 Both the Guild and Local 37 would include
this classification in the nonmechanical unit as part of the circulation
department. The Employer contends that delivery is a mailroom
function and therefore within the mechanical unit. The Board has
traditionally held that outside delivery employees may appropriately
constitute a separate unit or may be included with circulation depart-
ment employees in a nonmechanical unit.13 As no union is seeking
to represent this classification separately, we shall include it in the
nonmechanical unit as part of the circulation department.
f. The metal melters
Two employees , Kanishero and Fujimoto , spend the majority of
their time as metal melters and pressmen 's helpers . They melt down
old lead molds , prepare the melted lead for the Linotype machine, and
0 Cf. The Meredith Publishing Company, and the Meredith Printing Company, 140
NLRB 509, 511 ; Printing Industry of Seattle, Inc., 116 NLRB 1883, 1885.
10 Two other employees , Elko Muranaka and Harvey Tam, also perform similar work.
At the hearing the parties stipulated that Muranaka should be included in Local 37's unit.
However, both Local 37 and the Guild took the position that Harvey Tam, who spends
from 10 to 30 hours a month in layout and pasteup, from 3 to 13 hours a month as a
news photographer , and from 121 to 158 hours a month as a photoengraver , should be
included in the Guild unit as a news photographer . The Employer took the position that
he should be in the mechanical unit because of his photoengraving , layout, and pasteup
work. Since the amount of time which Harvey Tam spends as a photographer is de
minimis when compared to the amount of time he spends in the mechanical operations of
layout , pasteup, and photoengraving , we shall include him in the mechanical department
unit.
u See Lowell Sun Publishing Company, supra.
u Severino Valdez also performs about 1 hour of maintenance work per week.
=Denver Publishing Company, 117 NLRB 1465.
GARDEN ISLAND PUBLISHING CO., LTD. 701
pump ink for the presses.14 Both Local 37 and the Guild character-
ized such operations as maintenance work and sought to include this
classification in the nonmechanical unit. However, metal melting
and presswork is an integral part of the mechanical operation and
thus these employees have a community of interest with other
mechanical department employees. We shall therefore include this
classification in the mechanical department unit.
g. Alleged supervisory status of certain individuals
(1) Lillian Uchiyama is the manager of the circulation depart-
ment. She bills all the circulation accounts and directs the work of
the newspaper carriers. In this capacity she collects money from
the carriers and, as conditions warrant, may hire and fire them. The
Employer contends that Lillian Uchiyama is not a supervisor because
the carriers are independent contractors. The evidence in the record
is unclear on this point. In any event, irrespective of the carriers'
status, Lillian Uchiyama, as head of the circulation department, is
an agent of management. She has the responsibility of directing
the work of the carriers and, in so doing, exercises independent
judgment in carrying out company policy. We therefore exclude her
from both units, as a managerial employee.15
(2) The Employer would include Tad Eto, the advertising man-
ager, in the nonmechanical unit even though it concedes that he
supervises the one advertising salesman. The record shows that Eto
has the authority to hire, fire, grant time off, and effectively recom-
mend pay raises with respect to the advertising salesman. Since he
possesses the authority of a supervisor within the meaning of Section
2(11) of the Act, the fact that only one employee works under him
is not controlling. We therefore find that Tad Eta is a supervisor,
and we exclude him.16
(3) Local 37 would include Miyake, the production supervisor, in
its unit. The record indicates that Miyake may effectively recom-
mend hiring, firing, and wage increases for employees, and has the
authority to grant time off. He spends a minimum of 30 percent of
his time directing the work of the compositors and coordinating all
the commercial printing work. We therefore find that Miyake is a
supervisor, and we exclude him.
Accordingly, we find appropriate, for purposes of collective bar-
gaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act, separate
14 They also spend a few hours each month driving the delivery truck.
u Cf. Copeland Refrigeration Corporation , 118 NLRB 1364, 1365.
"Local 28, International Organization of Masters , Mates and Pilots, et al. (Ingram
Barge Co. ), 136 NLRB 1175 , 1204 ; Raney Motor Company, Inc., 99 NLRB 408, 410.
702 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
units of employees at the Employer's Lihue, Hawaii, plant, as
follows :17
(a) Case No. 37-RC-1162: All full-time and regular part-time
mechanical department employees including layout and pasteup em-
ployees, Linotype operators, stereotypers, pressmen, proofreaders,
photoengravers, teletype setters, binders, mailroom employees, com-
positors, and metal melters, but excluding guards and supervisors as
defined in the Art.
(b) Case No. 37-IRC-1164: All full-time and regular part-time
nonmechanical department employees including employees in the
editorial, business, circulation, and advertising departments, the
truckdriver, and the building maintenance employee, but excluding
the circulation department manager and all guards and supervisors
as defined in the Act.
As noted, supra, since no union is seeking the unit advanced by the
Employer, and because the separate units petitioned for by the re-
spective Unions are appropriate, we shall dismiss the Employer's
petition in Case No. 37-RM-60.
[The Board dismissed the petition in Case No. 37-RM-60.]
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
17 As the units found appropriate herein are broader than those sought by the Peti-
tioners, each Direction of Election is conditioned upon each Union Petitioner demon-
strating, in its own case , within 10 days from the date of this Decision, that it has an
adequate showing of interest in such broader unit.
In the event that either Petitioner does not wish to participate in an election in the
unit found appropriate in this case , we shall permit it to withdraw its petition upon
notice to the Regional Director within 5 days from the date of this Decision.
Happy Food Center, Inc. and Retail Store Employees Union Local
782, AFL-CIO. Case No. 17-CA-2551. August W,1965
DECISION AND ORDER
On May 21, 1965, Trial Examiner Herbert Silberman issued his
Decision in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the Respon&
ent had engaged in and was engaging in certain unfair labor prac-
tices and recommending that it cease and desist therefrom and take
certain affirmative action, as set forth in the attached Trial Ex-
aminer's Decision. The Trial Examiner also found that the Re-
spondent had not engaged in certain other unfair labor practices
alleged in the complaint, and recommended that these allegations be
dismissed. Thereafter, the General Counsel filed exceptions to the
Trial Examiner's Decision and a supporting brief; the Respondent
filed an answering brief and cross-exceptions.
154 NLRB No. 61.